The gap, the edge, and the squeeze

As a part of the research for Bombai the book I am writing about this city I closely examine congestion decay chaos and enterprise Mumbai abounds in those but at their heart is a single question Why has Mumbai always been in a state of preparation or reparation for two centuriesRoads are forever dug up and being remade or repairedEverything is eternally under constructionNothing stays pristine for long deterioration is the norm with the inexplicable exception of the Metro railway as spotless as a foreign landRamshackle is the word that best describes the majority of the cityrsquos pavements structures public vehicles utilities and general environmentThree concepts describe why Mumbai looks shabby and unkempt despite endless attempts by the worldrsquos richest municipal corporation to make it worldclassand liveableThey are Edge Gap and Squeeze These three words are Swiss Army knives when trying to understand this cityThe most consequential edge in Mumbai is the one where sea and land meet From back when it was a motley clutch of islands and sandbanks pushing the searsquos edge farther was how the city has grown That requires soil which came from the hills of the area As they shrank in size to fill the creeks Mumbai expandedTwo centuries later nothing has changed The Coastal Road and other earthworks in progress continue to push the searsquos edge away even farther The city is always under construction because its edges are forever growingLook at the newly paved roads classy and tiled like European walking streets with interlocking peanutshaped paver blocks There too decay starts at the edges where the curving tiles meet the straight pavements creating gaps loosely filled as an afterthought The tiles begin coming loose here leaving a pixelated roadscape whose components disintegrate and fly awayNo gap is left unfilled no edge unexploited From the plane flying in you see the gritty edges where sprawling slums under blue tarps meet the walled compounds of uppercrust highrises with names straight out of royal Britain like Greenfields and Belvedere Within these ivory dwellings you will again see decay at the edges of flooring tiles chipped and cracked with awkward gaps Nothing is immaculate in the buildings or outside them in public areasThe gap is also an opportunity A young man will come from Roorkee with tapes of his brilliant music Rs 10000 in his pocket and dreams of being rich and famous After scavenging like a rodent for some years he hears ofmdasha gap A famous movie director is looking for someone to replace a key grip who left suddenly Our young man begs and pleads and fills that gapOnce you find a gap in Mumbai you can gain a foothold and begin climbing Our young man befriended other gap refugees and was soon in more films Eventually he became the Music Director of a smash hit called Gully Boy His name is Ankur Tewari and his life is all about edges gaps and squeezesIf the gap was between two tin sheds in Dharavi you could squeeze a bed and a tarp there and call it yours In ten years itrsquoll be yours and the neighbourrsquos shanty as wellMy research showed me only one place that has neither a gap nor an edge a Mumbai suburban train at 5 pmItrsquos the magic hour of the day when passengers turn into cows and are moved about in herds by forces they barely understand Going in or out is not a choice You will be sucked in by a tide of frantic ingoing cattle Within everyone will be squeezed into one damp mass armpits in faces shoes atop shoes sweaty bodies crushed into immobility like gooseberries in a jam bottleYou will be arbitrarily expelled at some station yours or not part of a toothpaste of passengers being squeezed outIn peakhour Mumbai today a train rated to carry 2000 somehow accommodates 4500 passengers In Transport Economics this is called a Crush Load normally measured using the number of standing passengers per square metre Six is considered an acceptable practical limitPredictably Crush Load doesnrsquot begin to capture Mumbairsquos reality A new term the SuperDense Crush Load had to be coined It describes 14 to 16 standing passengers per square metre of floor spaceYou will not see any edges or gaps just the worldrsquos tightest squeezeAN APPEAL TO READERSIf you your building society or other association has a WhatsApp group please copy and paste the short appeal below Useful responses will enrich the book I am writing about this great megalopolisI am C Y Gopinath journalist and author working on a major biography of Mumbai as it is today to be called BOMBAI The book will span history geography migrations success stories major events and milestonesI am interested in hearing Mumbai community stories of extraordinary unexpected compassion collaboration and resilience If you have any stories to share in these areas that I could investigate further please do write to me at bombaistoriesgmailcom including your name and mobile If your story sounds interesting I will certainly reach out to youYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper